The Art of Brunello from Castello Romitorio
The Castello Romitorio Brunello bottlings are distinctive from first glance: each label displays a painting by Sandro Chia, renowned Italian artist who bought the domaine in 1984. And they are born of a very distinctive place: the castello is a twelfth-century fortress atop a hillside in northern Montalcino surrounded by oak forest, overlooking the city of Siena. Wine has been interwoven in the history of this place for hundreds of years. The property had been abandoned when Chia bought it in 1984. He made it an art studio and invested in replanting and revitalizing the vineyards, and eventually built a new winery in 2005.
The wines in a way encapsulate the interplay of forces on this estate--a modern look toward the future brought by the avant-garde touch of Chia and a respect for the long winemaking history of this specific place, which was once a land of Italy’s early ancestors, the Etruscans. The wines are elegant and nuanced, and it’s a cliche to say they are a work of art but I think it’s fair to say they are made with an artist’s sensitivity to material and context.
Their current release is the 2015 Castello di Romitorio "Filo di Seta" Brunello di Montalcino ($99.99), which earned 96 points from Parker, hailing from the epic 2015 vintage. Sandro’s son, Filippo, came on board in 2005 after getting a BFA in Photography from NYU—so the marriage of art and wine lives on in the next generation. He described his style of winemaking as “traditional, clean, and electric.” Filippo told me more about the conditions in 2019 and what to expect in the upcoming releases.
OTT: Winemakers have been raving about the 2015 vintage in Montalcino. What exactly happened to make it so special?
FC: The 2015 vintage was very special due to the climate, but also the fact that in 2005-2006 many producers planted new vineyards. The choice of clones and spacing of the plants, often planted more densely, allowed producers including myself to tap a new resource... 10-year-old vineyards that give denser, darker fruit when compared to the past. The tannins in 2015 make wines that are enjoyable also rather young due to a warmish overall vintage.
OTT: How does one year affect the next year’s vines?
FC: Vineyards are incredibly adaptable and retain a memory of stressful or shocking climatic events. 2017, for instance, was very hot, and plants stopped ripening fruit in order to retain water for survival. The following year the plant naturally yielded less fruit in preparation for another hot year, yet 2018 ended up being a moderate summer with normal temperatures. This set the stage for 2019, probably the best vintage of the century. The plant yielded a balanced amount of fruit that ripened perfectly. This has also been true in the past: extremely cold or hot years stress the planting which usually, in the long term, helps the vine to regulate and adapt to the future with the experience of the past. That said, 2015 vintage followed 2014 which was the coldest summer on record.
OTT: Can you tell us a bit about the Filo di Seta vineyard? What makes it special?
FC: Like any vineyard what makes it special is its location and terroir combined with the human element which is everything related to preparing the earth for planting, directions of the row, density of planting, rootstock and clonal selection. Every vineyard has a human originator who undertakes the careful task of choosing how to structure the vineyard.
In the case of Filo di Seta the 1) location is very important because it is on the lowest slopes of the Romitorio directly in front of the Montosoli hill. Climatically, it is considered one of the best areas of Montalcino. It’s considered such because the clay is compressed at this point and this is the best soil for Sangiovese: Galestro. In addition, this vineyard also has clay and sandstone, which give a great variety of terroir within the same vineyard. 2) Each soil type has its own rootstock. 3) Clones were carefully chosen by my father in 1988, and it’s a rare selection of the best of old-school clones of Sangiovese. 4) Vineyard density is old style, so it’s not densely planted. 5) The originator of this vineyard is my father Sandro Chia, and it has been maintained as he set it up originally. Vines have been replaced using the same clones and the vineyard today is considered one of Montalcino finest Brunello from the north. Dad purchased the estate in 1984, and it underwent 20 years of restorations and plantings.
OTT: What, in your opinion, makes a perfect Brunello?
FC: Personality and terroir. Sangiovese in Montalcino is a delicate and finicky grape and the human aspect is very important.
- Kate Soto